Names of New York: Discovering the City's Past, Present, and Future Through Its Place-Names

by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

From the co-editor of the award-winning Nonstop Metropolis --a fascinating journey into the past, present, and future of New York City through its place-names and the stories they contain

Drawing on his background in cultural geography, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro excavates the wealth of stories that are embedded in New York City's place-names and uses them to illuminate the power of naming to shape experience and our sense of place. He traces the ways in which the native Lenape, the Dutch settlers, the British invaders, and successive waves of immigrants have all left their marks on the city and continue to reshape it. He explores how many New York place-names have accrued iconic significance far beyond the city's boundaries. (Brooklyn is also the name of a notorious street gang in Haiti and of restaurants from New Zealand to Paris, and is among the top fifty names for girls in America.) And he interviews the last living speakers of Lenape, tours the harbor's many out-islands with a tugboat captain, and meets with the linguists at the Endangered Language Alliance, who study the estimated eight hundred languages now spoken in New York.

As immigrants and marginalized groups continue to find new ways to make New York's streets and boroughs their own, the names that adhere to the landscape function not only as portals to explore the past but also as a means to reimagine what is possible now.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published April 13, 2021

About the author

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and Harper's magazine, among many other publications. Among his books is Names of New York, Island People, and (with Rebecca Solnit) Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. He is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, where he also teaches.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read for all of us loving NYhistory I’m a nerd and a history buff and loved reading this book. Wish I had all this in my arsenal when I taught Social Studies in a NYC school.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will be of interest in anyone who has an interest in the history of New York City. The author covers a large number of areas around the city and how they came about to have the names that they do. His writing style is engaging and humorous at times. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

[Jeff G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative book. Living in New York City, you often pass by these streets and parks and wonder where the names came from. Well, this book answers those questions and more! The only complaint I have is sometimes politics are brought up in something that they aren’t necessary in. However, it’s still a great read that provides a ton of information and covers the many eras that have made New York so great!

[Kel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how to say this but I feel like I can't remember anything I read about the names I learned in the book - it just feels a little too busy. Also the author does not seem to understand what the word "gringo" means - but sure seems keen on using it.

I guess I just wanted this book to be more than it was.

[Alicia Helbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - definitely entertaining, but I felt like it covered too many places... giving some places more depth and explanation than others (as well as discussing other places named for the same people/things in other cities)

[DW Rowlands · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short, but fairly interesting, narrative of the origins of place names in New York City, with chapters focusing on different sorts of name origins, such as Native American names, subdivision names given by developers, street names, and so on.